The stage winner's vast gap over the field in the 152km stage earned him a lead of one minute 33 seconds in the general classification.

“We had marked down this stage and as I’m a reasonably good climber, I was the one to go,” he said.

“I decided to try my luck eight or nine kilometres from the finish line as I knew the others would not move before the final three kilometres, which were steeper. I gave it my all, never looked back but I was still very surprised to gain time on the chasers in the climb.”

On Wednesday, the riders will contest a 132km stage between Fethiye and Marmaris.

The Tour of Turkey has eight stages. The race finishes with a stage in Istanbul on Sunday.